On November 21, attacks ended. Egypt under President Mohamed Morsi acted as intermediary to do so.

Israel agreed to ceasefire terms. So did Hamas. They included:

"A. Israel should stop all hostilities in the Gaza Strip land, sea and air including incursions and targeting of individuals.

B. All Palestinian factions shall stop all hostilities from the Gaza Strip against Israel including rocket attacks and all attacks along the border.

C. Opening the crossings and facilitating the movements of people and transfer of goods and refraining from restricting residents' free movements and targeting residents in border areas and procedures of implementation shall be dealt with after 24 hours from the start of the ceasefire.

D. Other matters as may be requested shall be addressed."

Implementation mechanisms included:

"A. Setting up the zero hour for the ceasefire understanding to enter into effect.

B. Egypt shall receive assurances from each party that the party commits to what was agreed upon.

C. Each party shall commit itself not to perform any acts that would breach this understanding. In case of any observations, Egypt as the sponsor of this understanding, shall be informed to follow up."

Both sides agreed not to breach ceasefire terms. Hamas stuck by its agreement. Israeli ones aren't worth the paper they're written on.

Straightaway, it committed violations. It did so repeatedly. It continues to do so. On December 27, Maan News headlined "Islamic Jihad: 1,400 Gaza ceasefire violations since 2012," saying:

Israel violated ceasefire terms "over 1,400 times since December 2012â€¦" Killing a three-year old Palestinian girl was the latest incident. Hundreds of others preceded it.